The present invention relates to a method for generating at least one driving track for the automatic route planning of an agricultural vehicle.
Automatic route planning systems and methods are being used to an increasing extent in agriculture in order to work territory in a more efficient manner, be it by determining the shortest and fastest route possible for working an agricultural field, or to predict operating parameters of vehicles such as tank fill levels and locations of the vehicles at various times during operation, and to optimize the effectiveness of the vehicles' interaction with one another.
A method is known from DE 10 2006 002 567 A1. In this method, an agricultural field to be worked is driven along by a vehicle, and the route that is covered is recorded. The recorded route is displayed on a screen, and an operator is given the option of selecting start points and end points of a reference driving track on the route that was traveled. The reference driving track may then be used to automatically determine the arrangement of other driving tracks to be driven as the working of the field continues. This relieves the driver of the vehicle of the task of having to determine an efficient route to take in order to work the field, and it opens up the possibility of at least partially automating the working of the field, since the vehicle is guided along the planned route via an automatic steering system.
As an alternative to selecting start points and end points of the reference driving track in a graphical display, the known method gives the driver of the vehicle the option of specifying the start point and end point of a reference driving track; in this case, the operator enters a start signal in the route planning system when he begins to drive a reference driving track, and he enters a stop signal in the route planning system once he has finished following a reference driving track.
Neither of these approaches is entirely satisfactory. If the route traveled so far is displayed in entirety on a touchscreen monitor, it is difficult to determine the start and end points of a reference driving track with the necessary degree of accuracy, especially when the field to be worked is large. Although it would be feasible to depict certain parts of the route in a larger scale, it is difficult to determine a start or end point of a reference driving track in a reasonable manner if the two points cannot be seen at the same time. In particular, when the route that was traveled is composed of several parallel sections that can be seen at the same time in an enlarged view, the process of selecting start and end points of the reference driving track is highly prone to error. If the driver wants to determine start and end points of the reference driving track while he is driving along it, the likelihood is great that he will forget to generate the start or stop signal at the right time, especially if he is devoting his full attention to steering the vehicle as exactly as possible along the intended course of the reference driving track.